THIS PAGE STILL IN PROCESS OF GETTING UPDATED FOR 2023-2024.
Latest update: 11/30/2023
Running For Office As A Libertarian Candidate In Texas In the November 5, 2024 Election
Deadline to file: 6:00 p.m. Monday, December 11, 2023
For the fastest service, immediately call Wes Benedict (512) 659-8896 between 9 AM and 9 PM, 7 days a week, email him at wesbenedict@gmail.com, or email the Libertarian Party of Texas candidate recruiter Ted Brown at candidates@lptexas.org.
Whether you hope to win your election, or simply want to run for office to help promote Libertarian principles realizing it's unlikely you'll get elected, I (Wes Benedict) hope you decide to run for some office. Contact me and I'll help you decide which office makes the most sense for your situation.
We are not accountants or attorneys and this is not legal or accounting advice. But we do have a lot of experience with these processes and procedures and try our best to provide accurate and helpful information.
Whether you hope to win your election, or simply want to run for office to help promote Libertarian principles realizing it's unlikely you'll get elected, I (Wes Benedict) hope you decide to run for some office. Contact me and I'll help you decide which office makes the most sense for your situation.
We are not accountants or attorneys and this is not legal or accounting advice. But we do have a lot of experience with these processes and procedures and try our best to provide accurate and helpful information.
Start Here:Step 1. Let us know you want to run for office.
It's optional, but please fill out this unofficial candidate interest form to let the national and state Libertarian Parties know that you are interested in running for office. Don't worry about any details you're unsure of. It's okay if you haven't decided which office to run for, or whether you plan to try to win or plan to run a low-budget campaign to help promote Libertarian policies. For the fastest service and quick advice, call Wes Benedict (512) 659-8896. Step 2. Choose an office We'll suggest one for you if you'd like. Offices up for election in 2024 - The list includes partisan offices that are statewide, district, and county offices, but does not include local non-partisan offices like city council and school board. 2024 Qualifications for All Public Offices - Includes age and residency requirements. The Legislature passed a bill requiring Libertarian candidates to pay a filing fee or collect petition signatures to be on the ballot. For the 2019-2020 and 2021-2022 election cycle, some Libertarians paid the fling fee and others didn't. Libertarians challenged the filing fee requirement and won in court both times. Perhaps we'll get lucky again in 2024 and have candidates approved without paying the filing fee or collecting petition signatures. However, if you want to be certain to be on the ballot, then we recommend you pay the filing fee or collect the required petition signatures. In any case, we want you to file your candidate application whether you plan to pay the filing fee, collect petition signatures, or do neither and hope for the best. Filing Fees or Petition Signature requirements for 2024 - In our opinion, most candidates should pay the filing fee rather than trying to collect petition signatures because collecting petition signatures is very time-consuming. Though we advise against it, if you want to do the petition, here's the form: Form: PETITION IN LIEU OF A FILING FEE. See Form Notes. Texas Redistricting Map by the Texas Tribune - Enter your address to find out the district numbers you live in for U.S. Representative, State Representative, State Senate, and State Board of Education. For district maps, use the District Viewer. Step 3. Submit Campaign Treasurer Appointment (State and local offices only) If you are running for a federal office like U.S. Senate or U.S. Representative, your campaign finance is regulated by the Federal Election Commission. The good news is that you won't have to file any reports until or unless you raise or spend $5,000 or more. So, for now, you may skip to the next step. In the mean time, you must be aware of the regulations which involve keeping track of things like the date, amount, address, occupation, and employer of all donations you receive and keeping track of expense details as well. Many Libertarian candidates for U.S. Representative never raise or spend over $5,000 and therefore never have to file campaign finance reports. State Offices - If you are running for any state office (like Railroad Commissioner, State Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeals, State Senator, State Representative, State Board of Education, etc.), your campaign finance is regulated by the Texas Ethics Commission. You must appoint a Campaign Treasurer. For most candidates we recommend appointing yourself as the Campaign Treasurer unless you have someone else to appoint. Fill out Appointment of Campaign Treasurer By A Candidate - Form CTA see Instructions (Judicial candidates use this form instead - judicial instructions). Here's an example Form CTA that is filled out. Email your completed Form CTA to the TEC at treasappoint@ethics.state.tx.us, and please copy wesbenedict@gmail.com and candidates@lptexas.org so we can check for mistakes. If you can't email it, then snail mail it to: Texas Ethics Commission P.O. Box 12070 Austin, TX 78711-2070 You can verify if the TEC received your CTA the next day by searching the list of active filers here. County Offices - If you are running for a county office (Sheriff, Tax Assessor-Collector, County Commissioner, Justice of the Peace, Constable, etc.) you must also follow the rules set by the Texas Ethics Commission. Follow the instructions above for State Offices. However, instead of sending the Form CTA to the TEC, you'll need to send it to your county elections administrator. Find your County Elections Administrator here. Again, please forward your Form CTA to Ted Brown and Wes Benedict so we can check for errors. YOU SHOULD NOT RAISE OR SPEND ANY FUNDS ON A STATE OR LOCAL CAMPAIGN UNTIL YOU HAVE SUBMITTED YOUR CAMPAIGN TREASURER APPOINTMENT (FORM CTA). Step 4. Submit your Application for Nomination To run for office you'll need to complete one of these Applications For Nomination. You can print it out and then handwrite the info or you can fill it out on your computer and then print it. If using Adobe Reader you may not be able to save the info you type so you'll have to print it right away.
Libertarian Booster PAC Copy - Though not required, please also email a copy to Wes Benedict (wesbenedict@gmail.com), Founder of the Libertarian Booster PAC. County Party Copy - If you are running for a county office (Sheriff, Tax Assessor-Collector, County Commissioner, Justice of the Peace, Constable, etc.) you'll need to submit the application to your Libertarian Party County Chair as well, although it's possible Ted or Wes might forward a copy for you. You can find your Libertarian Party County Chair here. Step 5. Pay Filing Fee If you plan to pay the filing fee, where you pay depends on the office. You'll need to submit a check, and the Secretary of State urges you to include a copy of your Application For Nomination to help identify what the check is for. Federal and State Offices - If you are running for any federal or state office (like U.S. Representative, Governor, Railroad Commissioner, State Representative, State Board of Education, etc.), your check needs to make it to the Secretary of State's office by the deadline of 6:00 PM Monday December 11, 2023. Postmarking doesn't matter! You can deliver it yourself in person in Austin, or by mail, or make arrangements with Ted or Wes (highly recommended). Make check out to "Secretary Of State" and in the For/Memo field write "filing fee," and name of candidate. The Secretary of State address and contact info is here: https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/contact.shtml In 2019, we had candidates who tried mailing their checks, but they didn't arrive in time. Don't put yourself in that position. County Offices - If you are running for a county office (Sheriff, Tax Assessor-Collector, County Commissioner, Justice of the Peace, Constable, etc.) you must give your check and a copy of your Application to your County Judge. Many county government officials including county judges are unfamiliar with this new process where Libertarian candidates have to pay a filing fee and deliver it to the County Judge. So, we highly recommend you call your county elections officials and your County Judge's office in advance to discuss the delivery of the payment and your application. It is strange and confusing that both the county elections office and the county judges office might be involved. Explain that you are a Libertarian candidate and need to pay a filing fee to the County Judge, and see what they say. You should ask them exactly where to deliver the check and application and ask who to make the check out to. Find your County Elections Administrator here. Step 6. Open A Bank Account and Raise and Spend Funds If you haven't opened a bank account for your campaign yet, generally, it's okay to spend your own personal funds on campaign expenses provided you have already filed a Campaign Treasurer Appointment and report the expenses later as required. In some cases, as long as you spend more of your personal funds than you collect from donors, you can avoid opening a bank account and can treat contributions as reimbursements for prior campaign expenses. However, you should not accept campaign contributions in excess of what you've already spent unless you have a bank account for your campaign. Opening a bank account can be easy or hard, depending on the bank and the banker who helps you. Often bankers get confused if you tell them you want to open a "campaign account" because they don't deal with may political campaign accounts. Sometimes one bank branch can't help you, but a banker at another branch can figure it out and will help you. SECOND PERSONAL ACCOUNT RECOMMED: Many candidates simply open a second personal checking account at their existing bank and that is by far the simplest process. It's not a business or a campaign account. Just a simple personal account opened using your personal Social Security number. Request an account that pays zero interest if possible to avoid the hassles of reporting interest transactions. Usually the 2 or 3 starter checks that you get the day you open your account are all that you'll need, as long as you also get a debit card for your account. No need to order a book of checks. Do not get a credit card for your campaign; use a debit card instead. EIN AND BUSINESS ACCOUNT FOR ADVANCED CAMPAIGNS: A more advanced and much more complicated way to do things is to get an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS for your campaign, and then bring that EIN and a copy of your Form CTA to the bank and open a small business checking account using a name like "John Doe Campaign" or "John Doe For Senate." Get a debit card for your account and you'll probably only need the few checks that the bank gives you when you open the account. Do not get a credit card for your campaign; use a debit card instead. More info on completing the EIN form online may be forthcoming shortly (reminder, we are not accountants or attorneys and do not provide accounting or legal advice). Step 7. Online Donation Processing Services Advice on which online donation processing services are easiest to use may be forthcoming. In the meantime, I've used Anedot, DonorBox, Click&Pledge, Square, Stripe, PayPal, Piryx, and a combination of all of them. I find them all frustratingly complicated. If you run into problems, PayPal by far has the worst customer service. Recently I had to refund all donations to a PayPal account due to problems. Piryx has even worse customer service. There's no phone to call. You are supposed to submit customer service requests via a website form which I've done recently and have received no response. Campaign Finance Reporting & RegulationsFederal Offices: Candidates for federal offices (President, U.S. Senate, and U.S. Representative) must comply with Federal Election Commission rules and reporting and this PAC does not provide assistance with Federal candidates. Ask someone else for help or go to FEC.gov for more information.
State and District Offices: Candidates for state and district offices (Governor, Lt. Governor., Attorney General, Comptroller, Land Commissioner, Agriculture Commissioner, Railroad Commissioner, State Supreme Court, State Board of Education, State Senate, and State Representative), must file periodically with the Texas Ethics Commission and must comply with their regulations. Page with all Campaign Finance Guides Campaign Finance Guide for State and District Candidates (file with the TEC) Campaign Finance Report guide (2023) County Offices: e.g. Sheriff, County Judge, County Commissioner, County Clerk, Tax Assessor/Collector, County Treasurer, Justice of the Peace, Constable, may also be required to file periodic campaign finance reports with their County Clerk. You must contact county officials to find out your reporting requirements. Campaign Finance Guide for County Candidates (2023) (file with County Clerk). Texas Ethics Commission Filing Schedule for 2022 (2023 and 2024 info coming soon):
Click for full schedule with many different details that apply to certain situations. Summary schedule applying to many candidates is below. Click to start your report. TEC CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORTING SCHEDULE SUMMARY TABLE
Note 1: Not required for candidates who declared to file on the modified reporting schedule. See your CTA.
Note 2: Suggest marking this report as your final report if you have not already filed a final report. Election Calendar Important Dates (2023 & 2024 info coming soon)These Election Calendar dates mostly come from Secretary of State's elections calendar page and Filing in the Libertarian Party or Green Party 2022 Convention Process)
Frequently Asked Questions
Are county chairs permitted to run for office? Yes, as of 2013. Previously, no. From Texas Election Code Section 161.005: "(c) A candidate for nomination or election to, or the holder of, an elective office of the federal, state, or county government is eligible to serve as a county or precinct chair of a political party to which Chapter 181 applies." 161.005(c) was added during the 2013 legislature. Files below were referenced above or elsewhere:
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More Texas ResourcesTexas House of Representatives - Wikipedia
Texas State Senate - Wikipedia Texas Secretary of State's Links: Lists of Libertarian and Green Party candidates Generate list of candidates that have filed in any party Candidate’s Guide to Nomination and General Election for 2024. Nominee of Libertarian or Green Party in 2024 Important Dates for Party Conventions and Elections (Directed to D's & R's but has important calendar for minor parties [Libertarians].) Forms: See Chapter-2 Candidates, Minor Parties section. Historical Election Results - State, Counties Verify Voter Registration Withdrawal form for candidate Texas Ethics Commission links: TEC Home Campaign Finance Report guide Filing Schedule for Campaign Finance Reports Political Advertising - guide for disclosures like "Pol. adv. paid for by . . . " Personal Financial Statement - for candidates for state offices, must be filed electronically, but here's a link to a paper version just for reference. Candidates for County Judge and County Commissioner in counties with a population greater than 100,000, and candidates for Justice of the Peace in counties with population greater than 120,000 must file a Personal Financial Statement with their County Clerk. See See local government code 159.001, 159.002, and 159.003https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/LG/htm/LG.159.htm Counties County Election Administrators Historical County Election Results (from Texas Association Of Counties) Libertarian Party of Texas links: Candidate Interest Form Candidate Forms Other TX Green Party Candidate FAQ Running Your CampaignNow that you've got a handle on all the forms required and regulations, you'll want to start doing things like setting up a website, a Facebook page, perhaps getting some flyers and signs made, and all the other activities associated with running a campaign for office. Info on those activities can be found other places.A few suggestions are below.
Printing Campaign MaterialsIf you've never designed anything yourself, you may want to use a local full-service vendor that will do the design work for you. Of course that will cost a lot more.
There are hundreds of printing companies out there. Below are vendors I've used for many years and I have been pleased with the quality, service, and prices. Many local vendors will charge double the prices of the vendors below. Yard Sign Vendor I've used many vendors. My favorite is A.G.E. Graphics which almost always has the lowest prices even though they are shipped from Ohio, and also have high quality. Although their website is a little low-tech, they answer their phone. I prefer the 18"x24" corrugated yard signs with 24"x9" H-stands here: https://www.cheapyardsignsage.com/pages/18x24signpricing Bumper Sticker Vendor For bumper stickers, I prefer Capitol Promotions for their high quality and good price: https://www.capitolpromotions.com/bumper-stickers/ Brochures, Business Cards, Door Hangers, and Rack Cards Vendor I use Uprinting https://www.uprinting.com/ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||